Apple's jailbreaking-free dreamland, where its customers are safe from the evils of jailbreaking. (Source: Free Webs)

Company says it needs you not to jailbreak to keep you safe

Apple
really cares about you. That's why it fought so long and hard
to prevent
you from jailbreaking your iPhone and running unauthorized
apps, or unlocking your SIM card and jumping to another network.
In fact, it only tried to brick
your unlocked phone because it is so concerned about whether
you're having a quality experience.

Or, at least
that's the line Apple's spokeswoman was trying to sell in the wake of
the legalization
of jailbreaking, based on revisions to the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act by researchers at the Library of Congress.

Apple’s
goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great
experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can
severely degrade the experience. As we’ve said before, the vast
majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can
violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and
not work reliably.

Apple's
spokeswoman confirms that while the government may say its legal,
jailbreaking violates your warranty -- but only because the company
cares so much about your experience. She commented that the
company hadn't yet filed any suits against makers of jailbreaking or
SIM unlocking software.

While Apple obviously isn't happy with
the changes, underground iPhone developers like George
Hotz and the iPhone
Dev Team are rejoicing. The change means they will
have the opportunity to sell their jailbreaking/unlocking tools more
openly, rather than merely seeking donations. They can also
rest easy that they are unlikely to be prosecuted for their
efforts.

The shift is also beneficial for Cydia.
Cydia, an underground app store specializing in safe unauthorized
apps (such as tethering apps), has been picking up steam of late.
It services the estimated millions of jailbroken iPhones in the wild.

"I mean, if you wanna break down someone's door, why don't you start with AT&T, for God sakes? They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone!" -- Jon Stewart on Apple and the iPhone